Asian Art

I saw several exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that featured Chinese and Japanese art devoted to depictions of nature and gardens.   The Chinese art featured works starting from the 11th Century.  I am beginning to think that I need to re-educate myself in the history of art.   After a lifetime of viewing early European art centering around religion and portraits of important people, it is interesting to contemplate the very sophisticated traditions of Asian art.  The Chinese works I saw were painted and drawn on silk, beginning in the 11th century, and are in a remarkable state of preservation.   They come from a very different way of looking at the world.  I especially like the very long scroll paintings, images that you simply can't take in without moving your eyes.  Here are a few examples, dating from the 11th and 12th centuries  (click to make them bigger):

The Morgan Library

I saw the exhibition of 100 drawings at the Morgan Library.  They were from a Munich museum, and ranged from Renaissance to contemporary.   The older drawings were fascinating; especially the Renaissance ones.  One thing that struck me about these drawings was that both the technique and purpose of the drawings varied widely, even in the Renaissance.  Some were sketched in just a few details in a way that seemed very modern (perhaps as studies for larger works, while others were fully detailed works of art, using a wide variety of techniques for manipulating chalk, ink and paper.   In addition, the texture of the paper, in some cases 500 years old, lends  an interesting texture to the work.
One example, by Pontormo:

The Morgan Library, of course, contains lots of other things in its collection,  books and illuminated manuscripts, and the loot of J.P.'s acquisitions.  As my friend Santa said, perhaps this is reminder of what we are in for in the future if indeed we enter the Age of Romney and the one percent.